Nex5R Smart Remote Control- has anyone got it working? (1)

[paul_kingston]

I/m trying hard to post a query here. However, I have repeatedly had the message "Must not exceed 20,000 characters". What I have been trying to post is less than 2,000 characters. But I'll try to post it by splitting it further. This is the first part.

I'm excited by the idea of controlling my NEX-5R from my Android tablet. However, I haven't got there yet. My first problem was finding any description of how to do it- after you've discovered that the first few manuals offered for the 5R on the Sony website are for the original 5, you reach a set of four more manuals (all with gobldygook names which don't tell you what they are), and having rejected the one that turns out to be for the 5T you search the remaining three, and don't find much.

But then there is a how-to-do-it video and a 2.5 page short document. Trouble with these is that they don't say what to do if what your setup does is not what the pictured devices do.

(To be continued)

[paul_kingston]

Part 2- here is my actual problem. Let's hope the system allows me to post it.

I've set up the Sony PlayMemories app on my Android tablet (a Samsung Note 10.1), and had it say "Run the WiFi functions on the shooting device".

I've introduced my NEX-5R to my wifi hub (which is connected by a high-speed line to the web). I've succesfully downloaded pictures from my 5R to a Windows 8 laptop (also running a PlayMemories app).

Then I go to the 5R, press "Applications", and then press "Playmemories Camera Apps". It finds an access point (my WiFi hub) and then says "Web page not available" and then flashes to "Could not connect to the server- wait a while then reload". I do- repeatedly, and each time the same thing happens. Meanwhile it is clear from my laptop that there is no problem connecting to the web.

The web page that is "not available" is https://www.playmemoriescameraapps.com/portal/index.php . When I put this into my browser, the page is there.

Any ideas? How do I get the Smart Remote Control App onto my 5R?

[Bieomax]

Hi Paul, i dont have your camera, but there was a simliar thread asking about the same functionality in the Nex6

the link which was posted for that is

Here: https://www.playmemoriescameraapps.com/portal/usbdetail.php?eid=IS9104-NPIA09014_00-F00002

from the looks of the instructions on that page ( Instructions Link: https://www.playmemoriescameraapps.com/portal/manual/IS9104-NPIA09014_00-F00002/en/index.html that ou connect directly to the camera instead of via a wireless router.

let me know if this works ?

Kind Regards

Mark.

[Bieomax]

sorry i can't seem to edit the last post, on the second link when you click on it you'll need to remove the 'that' which seems to have been caught up on the hyperlink.

[Drewde]

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@Bieomax wrote:
sorry i can't seem to edit the last post, on the second link when you click on it you'll need to remove the 'that' which seems to have been caught up on the hyperlink.

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Hi. I've edited the link so should be working now.

[paul_kingston]

Thanks for the links.
I have now got the "Smart Remote Control" working between my Samsung (Android) tablet and my 5R. The facility is fun and I can imagine it being useful in some limited cases (for example set the camera up in a place I can't get at, like at the back of the kitchen work surface when my grandchildren are having a cookery practice). It is however slow to react (maybe a couple of seconds from pressing the shutter release on the tablet and and the shutter firing), and sometimes for no apparent reason the link fails to happen.

Yes, you don't (I think) need to be in the range of your home wi-fi in order to use the remote control- this seems to be direct between camera and tablet. You do however need this connection when you are first setting up, to download the apps to the camera and the tablet, and I found the camera needed very strong wifi to connect properly. I found however that it was possible to connect the camera to my laptop (in mass storage mode) and then use the laptop to download the app to the camera.

So it's working and it is fun. I'm not sure I'd recommend anyone to buy the camera because of this facility (though the 5R is an excellent camera anyway, much faster than the original 5), but it is a nice extra.